YouTube OSU's future

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Posted: 5/21/09

With the NBA draft lottery now completed and the conference finals in full swing, basketball is on the brain. There's a lot to be excited about as far as pro basketball goes, but right now I'm having a better time thinking about the future of Oregon State basketball.

Next year's team has been a hot topic since the CBI championship, and I've definitely contributed more than my share to the speculation. However, the success of next year's team could come down to one man: Jared Cunningham. Beaver fans, if you haven't already, you should start to get to know Cunningham, the incoming freshman point guard.

After de-committing from Arizona State, the four-star point guard opted to pay for the orange and black, and with Rickey Claitt graduating, Cunningham could be one of the more important Beavers in just his first year in Corvallis.

Rickey Claitt was Mr. Reliable for Oregon State this year. He didn't often have offensive games like he did in the CBI Championship, but he got it done game in and game out. He was a leader on and off the court and was the team's only true point guard who got significant playing time. With the departure of Claitt, Cunningham is the only true point guard on this team before even dressing for his first game.

Replacing Rickey Claitt is an impossible goal - his play in 2009 will never be forgotten, but after watching Jared Cunningham's YouTube videos, something tells me he'll help Beaver Nation through the grieving process.

At 6 feet 3 inches and 165 pounds, Cunningham lacks ideal size but has a way of dealing with bigger defenders: jumping over them. This is something you'll learn on YouTube, especially if you tune into the "Jared Cunningham has bounce" series. He could easily be the best dunker in the Pac-10 already.

In high school, Cunningham unofficially averaged one posterizing dunk per game and occasionally made fast breaks look like the NBA's slam-dunk contest. In short, Cunningham is a high-flying, big-scoring, quick-as-lightning freak of an athlete at point guard. Oregon State hasn't ever seen this type of player at the point guard position.

With the Beavers signing four-star shooting guard Roberto Nelson as well, Cunningham hasn't seen much of the offseason hype from recruitment sources. However, Nelson will need to compete with the stable of shooting guards the Beavers have returning, which includes the high-scoring Calvin Haynes and Lathen Wallace.

So with the departure of Claitt, things are pretty much wide open for Cunningham at the point guard position. However, a few things remain to be seen, and Cunningham will have more on his plate than just about any freshman in the Pac-10.

Claitt was a floor general; he had the ball in his hands 80 percent of the time, and when it came down to it, he was the one taking free throws in game-deciding moments. Claitt didn't pull off a 360-degree dunk from the free throw line in practice, but in games he's the one that got Haynes, Wallace and Schaftenaar in positions to score the points they did.

Claitt was a lockdown defender who covered every inch of baseline paint in the Beavers' trademark 1-3-1 defense. Without a point guard who can do the same next year, that suffocating defense will not be nearly as effective as it was this year.

Claitt was a big brother figure on a team that needed a leader, especially a leader at point guard. Also, at the most crucial point of the season, Claitt put up his career-best performance to win the CBI Championship for the Beavers.

Next season should be a great one, but the team can afford very little drop off from production at the point guard spot, making Cunningham the most crucial member of Coach Robinson's first recruiting class.

Search Jared Cunningham on YouTube, and trust me, you'll start counting down the days until the rainy winter basketball season even though it's 70 degrees outside. Cunningham certainly has given us plenty of reasons to be excited and has shown he can be an extremely talented member of an extremely special basketball team.

However, if the 2010 Beavers expect to one-up the 2009 team, they'll need freshman point guard Jared Cunningham to play like an experienced senior.

Terry Horstman, sports writer

sports@dailybarometer.com